All-New Marvel Now To Begin This January

Marvel Now! is apparently Marvel Then, because All-New Marvel Now is set to debut this January, giving us a second wave of relaunched titles and characters in the wake of Jonathan Hickman’s Infinity mega-event. Thankfully, running titles don’t seem destined for a relaunch. Currently published titles will get .NOW issues to lead into the new wave. Marvel released a full-page press release to CBR hyping up the event.

The most popular characters. The most acclaimed creators. The most ambitious stories. This is the recharged All-New Marvel NOW!.

This Winter, the Marvel Universe heads in an exciting all-new direction, as the industry’s top creators like Brian Michael Bendis, Rick Remender, Dan Slott, Jason Aaron, Kieron Gillen & more, join the top Super Heroes– Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine and other Marvel heroes– to deliver the best comics on the market with all-new ongoing series, AND must-read .NOW entry #1 issues for all readers!

It all starts in December with Avengers #24.NOW(=Avengers #1 in All-New Marvel NOW!), from the blockbuster creative team of Jonathan Hickman (Infinity, Avengers) and Esad Ribic (Thor: God Of Thunder, Uncanny X-Force), leading the Marvel Universe in a bold new direction by launching new series—often more than one—every week with unique mission statements, epic scales, and bigger conflicts than ever before.

Marvel then goes on to talk up some of their new titles, including a relaunched Invaders book and Matt Fraction’s long-gestating Inhuman title;

Then in January, All-New Marvel NOW! heads to the battlefront with All-New Invaders #1! From Eisner Award-Winning writer James Robinson (Starman, Earth 2) and red-hot artist Steve Pugh (Animal Man) comes a bold reimagining of your favorite Marvel Heroes. Brothers-in-arms Captain America, The Winter Soldier, Namor, and the Original Human Torch re-band for an all-new, all-different kind of war! But when the Kree Empire discovers a way to weaponize Norse Gods, can these timeless allies survive the deadly cosmic trenches? Find out as Marvel’s most enduring icons take to the stars in All-New Invaders #1!

But the start of the new year only gets bolder, as All New Marvel NOW! asks, “Are You Inhuman?” with Inhuman #1! Superstar creators Matt Fraction (Hawkeye, Invincible Iron Man) and Joe Maduiera (Avenging Spider-Man, Savage Wolverine) thrust the Inhumans into the spotlight as the newest power players in the entire Marvel Universe! Unfolding out of the cataclysmic events of Infinity, new Inhumans spring up around the globe forcing the once-secret society of Inhumans out into civilization! With Avengers-level powers and abilities, will they chose to stand with Earth’s Mightiest…or against them? As the chaos consumes the globe, discover the fate of King Black Bolt and his royal family as the world becomes Inhuman!

Sounds interesting to me, but even more interesting seems to be how hard Marvel is hammering their digital output. They’re running heavy with the digital codes, this time with an added twist;

Every FIRST ISSUE bearing the All New Marvel NOW! branding includes a code for a free digital copy of that same comic on the Marvel Comics app for iOS and Android devices. But that’s not all! Select .NOW! titles will also come with a digital code for the entire first collection of that series ABSOLUTELY FREE!

That’s right, buy the .NOW title and you could get a code to download the first collection of that series to boot. That’s an incentive that I can see driving more than a few people to pick up some titles they otherwise might skip. It’s a smart move by Marvel, one that pushes their digital presence and gives incentives to try out new books readers hadn’t previously thought of reading. Bravo, Marvel. You done good on this one.